Seventeenth census of the United States
← 1940 April 1, 1950 1960 →
U.S. Census Bureau seal
1950 U.S. census logo
General information
Country	United States
Results
Total population	151,325,798 ( 14.5%)
Most populous ​state	New York 15,830,192
Least populous ​state	Nevada 160,083

The 1950 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 151,325,798, an increase of 14.5 percent over the 131,669,275 persons enumerated during the 1940 census.^[1]

This was the first census in which:

• More than one state recorded a population of over 10 million
• Every state and territory recorded a population of over 100,000
• All 100 largest cities recorded populations of over 100,000

On April 1, 2022, the National Archives and Records Administration released scanned census enumeration sheets to the general public, in accordance with the 72 year rule.^[2]

Census questions

The 1950 census collected the following information from all respondents:^[3]

• address
• whether house is on a farm
• name
• relationship to head of household
• race
• sex
• age
• marital status
• birthplace
• if foreign born, whether naturalized
• employment status
• hours worked in week
• occupation, industry and class of worker

In addition, a sample of individuals were asked additional questions covering income, marital history, fertility, and other topics. Full documentation on the 1950 census, including census forms and a procedural history, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.

Data availability

Microdata from the 1950 census are freely available through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Aggregate data for small areas, together with electronic boundary files, can be downloaded from the National Historical Geographic Information System. All identifiable information in the census became available in April 2022 upon the release of the images taken by the National Archives and Records Administration.^[4]

On April 1, 2022, 72 years after the census was taken, the National Archives and Records Administration released scanned census enumeration sheets to the general public.^[2] The census data was also made freely searchable by name on other websites.^[5] Genealogy companies Ancestry and FamilySearch partnered to use AI and human volunteers to review an index of all names listed on the 1950 census forms.

State rankings

Rank	State	Population as of 1950 census	Population as of 1940 census	Change	Percent change
1	New York	14,830,192	13,479,142	1,351,050	10.0%
2	California	10,586,223	6,907,387	3,678,836	53.3%
3	Pennsylvania	10,498,012	9,900,180	597,832	6.0%
4	Illinois	8,712,176	7,897,241	814,935	10.3%
5	Ohio	7,946,627	6,907,612	1,039,015	15.0%
6	Texas	7,711,194	6,414,824	1,296,370	20.2%
7	Michigan	6,371,766	5,256,106	1,115,660	21.2%
8	New Jersey	4,835,329	4,160,165	675,164	16.2%
9	Massachusetts	4,690,514	4,316,721	373,793	8.7%
10	North Carolina	4,061,929	3,571,623	490,306	13.7%
11	Missouri	3,954,653	3,784,664	169,989	4.5%
12	Indiana	3,934,224	3,427,796	506,428	14.8%
13	Georgia	3,444,578	3,123,723	320,855	10.3%
14	Wisconsin	3,434,575	3,137,587	296,988	9.5%
15	Virginia	3,318,680	2,677,773	640,907	23.9%
16	Tennessee	3,291,718	2,915,841	375,877	12.9%
17	Alabama	3,061,743	2,832,961	228,782	8.1%
18	Minnesota	2,982,483	2,792,300	190,183	6.8%
19	Kentucky	2,944,806	2,845,627	99,179	3.5%
20	Florida	2,771,305	1,897,414	873,891	46.1%
21	Louisiana	2,683,516	2,363,516	320,000	13.5%
22	Iowa	2,621,073	2,538,268	82,805	3.3%
23	Washington	2,378,963	1,736,191	642,772	37.0%
24	Maryland	2,343,001	1,821,244	521,757	28.6%
25	Oklahoma	2,233,351	2,336,434	−103,083	−4.4%
26	Mississippi	2,178,914	2,183,796	−4,882	−0.2%
27	South Carolina	2,117,027	1,899,804	217,223	11.4%
28	Connecticut	2,007,280	1,709,242	298,038	17.4%
29	West Virginia	2,005,552	1,901,974	103,578	5.4%
30	Arkansas	1,909,511	1,949,387	−39,876	−2.0%
31	Kansas	1,905,299	1,801,028	104,271	5.8%
32	Oregon	1,521,341	1,089,684	431,657	39.6%
33	Nebraska	1,325,510	1,315,834	9,676	0.7%
34	Colorado	1,325,089	1,123,296	201,793	18.0%
35	Maine	913,774	847,226	66,548	7.9%
—	District of Columbia	802,178	663,091	139,087	21.0%
36	Rhode Island	791,896	713,346	78,550	11.0%
37	Arizona	749,587	499,261	250,326	50.1%
38	Utah	688,862	550,310	138,552	25.2%
39	New Mexico	681,187	531,818	149,369	28.1%
40	South Dakota	652,740	642,961	9,779	1.5%
41	North Dakota	619,636	641,935	−22,299	−3.5%
42	Montana	591,024	559,456	31,568	5.6%
43	Idaho	588,637	524,873	63,764	12.1%
44	New Hampshire	533,242	491,524	41,718	8.5%
—	Hawaii	499,794	422,770	77,024	18.2%
45	Vermont	377,747	359,231	18,516	5.2%
46	Delaware	318,085	266,505	51,580	19.4%
47	Wyoming	290,529	250,742	39,787	15.9%
48	Nevada	160,083	110,247	49,836	45.2%
—	Alaska	128,643	72,524	56,119	77.4%
—	United States	151,325,798	132,164,569	19,161,229	14.5%

City rankings